dwelleth whom we call in Latine Vicecomitem as one would say the Deputy of the Comes or Earl and in our tongue Sheriff It is his duty to gather the common moneys of the Prince in his County to collect and bring into the Exchequer all fines imposed even by distreining to be attendant upon the Judges and to execute their commandments to assemble and empanel the twelve men which in causes do enquire of the Fact and make relation thereof and give in their Verdict to the Judges for Judges with us sit upon the right onely of a cause and not upon the fact to see condemned persons executèd and to examine and determine certain smaller actions OF THE Several Counties IN ENGLAND CAmden begins with Cornwall and ends with Northumberland I shall mention the Counties of England rather according to the Letters of the Alphabet Barkshire IT is called in Latine Berkeria It is bounded upon the East with Surrey upon the North with the River of Thames from Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire upon the West with Wiltshire and upon the South with Hantshire Abbendune or Abington so called of the Abbay rather than of one Abben an Irish Eremite of the Abby there See Monasticon Anglicanum pag. 97. Farendon famous now for a Mercate there kept Wadley It is situate in a vale though not so fertile a soil as some vales afford yet a most commodious site wholsome in a delicious air a rich and pleasant seat Newbury as much as the Newburgh a fair Town well seated in a Champion plain Reading of the Brittish word Redin which signifieth Fearn that growing here plentifully excelleth all other Towns of this Shire in fair streets and goodly houses for wealth also of the Townsmen and their name in making of Cloath There is a very great Market Maidenhead so named of the superstitious worshipping of I wot not what British Maidens-Head Camd. Brit. Maidenhead or Maidenhith Hith in the old Saxon did signifie a Wharf Haven or Landing-place It had its name from the Wharf or Ferry belonging at that time to some neighbouring Nunnery or to some private Maidens dwelling thereabout who then received the profits of it So Queen-Hith in London took that appellation because the profits of the Wharf were anciently accounted for to the Queens of England Dr. Heylins Animadvers on the Church Hist. of Brit. lib. 1. p. 20. See Camden of Maiden-bradly in Wiltshire fol. 243. Windesore A Royal Castle and House of the Kings with the Town adjoyning A Princes Seat cannot have a more pleasant situation For from a high Hill that riseth with a gentle ascent it enjoyeth a most delightfull Prospect round about With the pleasantnesse of this place Princes were allured very often to retire themselves hither and here was Edward the Third that most puissant King borne who here built new out of the ground a most strong Castle in bignesse equal to a pretty City fortified with Ditches and Bulwarks made of stone and forthwith after he had subdued the French and Scots held at one and the self same time John King of France and David King of Scotland prisoners together in the same In this place King Edward the Third for to adorn Martial Prowesse with Honours the Guerdon of Vertue ordained the most Noble Order and Society of Knights whom he called Knights of the Garter who wear on their left Legge somewhat under the knee a Blew Garter with these golden Letters in French HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENS'E Shame to him that evil thinks and fasten the same with a Buckle of Gold as with the Band of a most inward Society in token of Concord and Unity that there might be among them a certain Consociation and Communion of Vertues Some attribute the original of it unto the Garter of the Queen or rather Joan Countesse of Salisbury a Lady of incomparable beauty which fell from her as she danced and the King took up from the floor for when a number of Nobles and Gentlemen standing by laughed thereat he made answer again That shortly it would come to passe that Garter should be in high honour and estimation This is the most common and most received report There is a Book entituled Catechismus ordinis Equitum Perifcelidis written long since by Belvaleti the Popes Nuncio here and published in the year 1631. by Bosquierus wherein the Authour makes an Allegory on the whole habit of the Order the Matter Colour Fashion Wearing to the very Girdle Dr. Heylins Antidotum Lincolniense Sect. 3. ch. 10. The mightiest Princes in Christendome reputed it amongst their greatest honour to be chosen and admitted into this Company and since the first Institution thereof there have been already received and enrolled into this Order which consisteth of six and twenty Knights two and twenty Kings or thereabout besides our Kings of England who are named Sovereigns thereof to speak nothing of Dukes and others of most high calling very many The Founders of the Order which in those dayes for stout courage and warlike Prowesse had few or no Peers and were in that regard advanced to that honour Edward the Third King of England Edward his eldest Sonne and Prince of Wales Henry Duke of Lancaster Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick Peter Copit de la Bouche Ralph Earl of Stafford William de Montacute Earl of Sarisbury Roger Mortimer Earl of March John Lord Lisle Sir Bartholomew de Burgherst Sir John Beauchamp John Lord Mohun of Dunstere Sir Hugh Courtne Sir Thomas and Sir Otho Holland Sir John Gray of Codnor Sir Richard Fitz Simon Sir Miles Stapleton Sir Thomas Walle Sir Hugh Wrothesly Sir Neel Lorenge Sir John Chandos Sir James Audley Sir Henry Eswi◠Sir Sanchio Dampredicourt Sir Walter Pavely There is an honourable Family of Barons surnamed of Windsore Eaton is hereto adjoyned by a wooden Bridge over the Thames and in it a fair Colledge and a famous School of good literature founded and built by King Henry the Sixth wherein besides the Provost eight Fellows and the singing Choristers there are threescore Scholars instructed in Grammar and in due time preferred to the University of Cambridge It containeth twenty Hundreds twelve Market Towns and an hundred and forty Parishes Bedfordshire BEdford is the principal Town whereof the Shire also taketh name A Town to be commended more for the pleasant situation and antiquity thereof then for beauty or largenesse although a man may tell five Churches in it Hockley in the Hole so named of the miry way in Winter time very troublesome to travellers for the old Englishmen our Progenitors called deep mire Hock and Hocks Dunstable This Town seated in a Chalky ground well inhabited and full of Innes hath four streets answering to the four quarters of the world in every one of which there is a large Pond of standing water for the publique use of the Inhabitants It contains ten Market Towns an hundred and sixteen
a Prince most accomplished with Martial Prowesse in the yeer of Christ 1336. Duke of Cornwall by a Wreath on his Head a Ring upon his Finger and a silver Verge Since which time the King of Englands eldest Sonne is reputed Duke of Cornwall by birth Launston the chief Town The Promontory named the Lands end the most Western point of the Kingdom It containeth nine Hundreds two and twenty Market Towns an hundred sixty and one Parishes Cumberland IT took the name of the Inhabitauts who were the true and natural Britans and called themselves in their own language Kumbri This Countrey although it be somewhat with the coldest as lying farre North and seemeth as rough by reason of Hils yet for the variety thereof it smileth upon the beholders and giveth contentment to as many as travel it Of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Burtons Comment on Antoninus his Itin. p. 13. At Newlands there are copper or brasse Mines Skiddaw-Hill is very high Skiddaw Lauvellin and Casticand Are the highest hils in all England Solway Frith so called of Solway a Town in Scotland standing upon it Under this Burgh within the very Frith where the salt water ebbeth and floweth the Englishmen and Scotish by report of the Inhabitants fought with their Fleets at full Sea and also with their Horsemen and Footmen at the ebbe Hard by the Riveret Dacor standeth Dacre-Castle of signal note because it hath given surname to the honourable Family of the Barons Dacre Carlile This ancient City is fortified with strong walls of stone with a Castle and Citadel as they terme it Here begun Picts-wall or simply by way of excellency The Wall the limit of the Roman Province continued through this Countrey and Northumberland and ending in Walls-end Here are nine Market Towns and fifty eight Parishes Darbyshire IT is a plentifull Countrey there are many Minerals and several kinds of Stones Darby is the chief Town of all this Shire a Town of good trade There be five Churches in it Of which the greatest named All-Hallows dedicated to the memory of All-Saints hath a Tower-steeple that for height and singular fine Workmanship excelleth They had a famous Minister there one Chappel which was brother to him that was of Cambridge and went afterward into Ireland He did much good in Darby When King James came thither a witty Butcher in the Town said thus to him Jemmy for a Chappel and a Steeple We may compare with any people The Assizes are there kept for the whole Shire and the best nappy Ale is brewed there in two places especially It is the ancient and peculiar drink of the Englishmen and Britains and very wholsome Henry of Aurenches the Norman Arch-Poet to King Henry the Third merrily jested on it in these Verses Nescio quid Stygiae monstrum conforme paludi Cervisiam plerique vocant nil spissius illa Dum bibitur nil clarius est dum mingitur unde Constat quod multas faeces in ventre relinquit Of this strange drink so like to Stygean lake Most terme it Ale I wot not what to make Folk drink it thick and pisse it passing thin Much dregs therfore must needs remain within The wealth of this Town consisteth much of buying of Corn and selling it again to the mountains for all the Inhabitants are a kind of Badgers Thomas Linaker the famous Scholar was born here and so was Mr. Cotton the famous Minister of Boston and Dr. Wilmot neer it Chesterfield a Market Town The Peak which signifieth to appear aloft is severed from Staffordshire by the Dove a most swift and clear River It is plentifull of Lead also Stibium or Antimony Mill-stones likewise are here hewed out as also Grinde-stones and Whet-stones to give an edge unto iron tools Under the old Castle called the Castle in the Peak there is a Cave or Hole within the ground called the Devils Arse Devils Arse in Peak that gapeth with a wide mouth and hath in it many turnings and retiring rooms This Hole is reckoned one of the wonders of England There are several other wonders in the Peak Ashburn in the Peak There is a place called Elden-Hole which lies two miles distant from Castleton a Town in the high Peak it is within the Peak Forest it descendeth directly down into the earth it is about thirty yards long and fifteen yards broad at the top of it but is much straighter when it cometh fourty yards deep You may see into it about sixty yards being as farre as the light which cometh in at the mouth of the Hole will give light to see it is fearfull to look into being a face of rock on each side About sixty years since one Mr. Henry Cavendish eldest brother to Sir Charles Cavendish who had spent all his dayes in travel had been at Jerusalem and several other parts of the world and hearing of this place came to it and caused Engines to be made or to let a man into the Hole which being done one George Bradley of the Peak Forest was let down in a rope fourscore yards And then another Engine was made to let him go further and from thence he was let down fourscore yards further and at the end thereof a third Engine was made whereby he was let down almost fourscore yards further at the top of the rope was fastened a Bell which he was to ring if he could go no further or would return back when he was let down almost the third fourscore yards he rung the Bell and being drawn up he was much affrighted remained speechlesse for a time and was struck with lamenesse but after he recovered his speech he declared that as he descended down were bones of Deer Sheep and other Cattel and also of men and that he was affrighted but how or in what manner he could not tel he lived several years but never was in perfect memory nor sound of his limbs Within the Town of Buxton there is a Bath called Buxton-Well which cureth very many Diseases There are two springs of water the one within a hand breadth of the other the one is very hot the other cold as ice There are eight Market Towns six Hundreds and an hundred and six Parishes in this County Denshire OR Devonshire A Countrey harborous on either side with commodious Havens enriched with Tin-mines especially Westward garnished with pleasant medows sightly with great store of woods and passing well replenished with Towns and buildings There is not any place almost in all England where the ground requireth greater charges For in most parts thereof it groweth in manner barren if it be not over-strewed and mingled with a certain sand from the Sea which is of great efficacy to procure fertility by quickening as it were and giving life unto the Glebe and therefore in places far from the shore it is bought at a dear rate On
of it they say is healthfull but not so wealthy the middle they account both healthfull and plentifull the lower they hold to be wealthy but not healthy as which for a great part thereof is very moist It is every where almost full of Medows Pastures and Corn-fields abounding wonderfully in Apple-trees and Cherry-trees also the Trees are planted after a direct manner one against another by square most pleasant to behold It hath Villages and Towns exceeding thick and well peopled safe Rodes and sure Harbours for Ships with some veins of Iron and Marle but the Air is somewhat thick and somewhere foggy by reason of vapours arising out of the waters The Revenues of the Inhabitants are greater both by the fertility of the soil and also by the neighbourhood of a great City of a great River and the main Sea This County is enriched with two Cities and Bishops Seas strengthened with twenty seven Castles graced with four of the Kings Houses traded with four and twenty Market Towns and beautified with many stately Buildings Camden in Kent pag. 324. saith The Kentishmen had priviledge to leade the Van in all Battels for their valour shewed against the Danes Amongst our old English the Kentishmen had the honour due to them alwayes of being in the Vant-guard and those of Wiltshire with Cornwall and Devonshire in the Rere which they all might challenge by the continuall worth of their performance Mr. Seldens Preface to his Titles of Honour The Sueuians had anciently prerogative In omni expeditione Regis Teutonici exercitum praecedere primi committere Id. ib. The meaning of that common Proverb Kent and Christendome was that it was famous as Kent and famous as Christendom This was the first of the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy and no one County of England had a King of it self but this They are the most civilized people of the Nation It is plentifull of Fowl and Fish of all sorts Fertile Lands Fruit Grain Wood When William the Conquerour came in the Yeomanry of Kent at Suaves-comb carrying before them in their hands every one a great green Bough representing afarre off a moving Wood yeelded them unto William the Conquerour upon this condition that they might retain their ancient Customs unviolated and especially that which they call Gavelkind that is Give all kinne by which they are not so bound by Copy-hold Customarytenures or Tenant-right as in other parts of England but in manner every man is a Free-holder and hath some part of his own to live upon For Lands of this nature are equally divided among the Male children or if there be no Sonnes among the Daughters By vertue of this also they are at full age and enter upon their Inheritance when they come to be fifteen years old and it is lawfull for them to alienate and make it over to any one either by Gift or by Sale without the Lords consent By this likewise the Sonne though their Parents were condemned for Felony or Murder succeeds them neverthelesse in such kind of Lands After this William the Conquerour that he might more firmly assure to himself Kent which is the very Key of England placed a Constable over Dover-Castle the most important Castle of England and according to the ancient order of the Romans made him also Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports These be they Hastings Dover Hith Rumney and Sandwich unto which Winchelsey and Rie are joyned as principal Ports and other small Towns as Members Which because they are bound to serve in the Warres by Sea enjoy many great immunities they are free from paiment of Subsidies and from Wardship of their children as touching the body they are not sued in any Court but within their own Towns and of the Inhabitants therein such as they call Barons at the Coronation of Kings and Queens support the Canopies over them yea and have a Table by themselves that day spread and furnished on the Kings right hand And the Lord Warden himself who is alwayes one of the Nobility of most approved trust hath within his Jurisdiction the Authority of Chancellour and Admirall in very many cases and enjoyeth other rights besides Depe-ford a most famous Ship-dock where the Kings Ships are built and such as are decayed repaired there is also a good Store-house and an Incorporation ordained for the use of the Navy Green-wich that is the Green-Creek for the Creek of a River in the old English tongue was called Wic A place of very great name by reason of the Kings House there and because Queen Elizabeth was here borne Barclay the Scot in his Icon animorum commends Green-wich Tower for one of the best Prospects in Europe to see London on the one side the Thames Ships and pleasant Medows on the other Eltham a retiring place likewise of the Kings but unwholsome by reason of the Moor Seven-oke so called as men say of seven exceeding great Oaks now cut down Which commendeth Sir William Sevenok an Alderman of London who being a foundling and brought up here and therefore so named built herein gratefull remembrance an Hospital and a School Dartford upon the River Darent a great Mercat Town well frequented and well watered Graves-end so called as the Gereves-end that is the limit of the Gereve or Reve. A Town as well known as any other in England for the usual passage by water between it and London Henry the Eight raised two Block-houses here and two other opposite on Essex-side Tunbridge the Town of Bridges Maidstone the Shire Town a large fair sweet and populous Town Rochester may glory in her impregnable Fortification by the Navy Royal. Rochester signifies as much as Castrum in rupe the Camp or Station on the Rock All places ending in Chester arise from the ruines of the old Romane Castra Burt. Comment on Antoninus Itin. through Brit. The Island Shepey or the Isle of Sheep It feedeth mighty great Floks of Sheep it is plentifull in Corn but scarce of Woods containeth twenty one miles in compasse Queen-Borough-Castle King Edward the Third built it and so named it in honour of his Queen Tenham the Parent as it were of all the choise fruit Gardens and Orards of Kent and the most large and delightsome of them Thirty Parishes thereabout are replenished with Cherry-gardens and Orchards beautifully disposed in direct lines As for Orchards of Apples and Gardens of Cheries and those of most delicious and exquisite kinds that can be no part of the Realm that I know hath them either in such quantity and number or with such art and industry set and planted Lamb Perambulat of Kent Amongst these is Feversham very commodiously situate Reculver of name for the salt savoury Oisters there dregged and for a Minster The Oisters here do as farre surpasse those of Whitstaple as these do the rest of this Shire in savoury saltnesse Lamb Perambul of Kent Canterbury * the chief City of this County ancient and
Earls of Pembroke Sudbroke the Church whereof called Trinity-Chappel standeth neer the Sea a moor for many miles together Abergenny It is fortified with Wals and a Castle This Shire containeth Parish Churches an hundred twenty seven Northfolk or Norfolk PEople of the North It is a Region large and spacious and in manner all thorowout a plain champion unlesse it be where there rise gently some pretty Hils passing rich exceeding full of Sheep and stored with Coneys replenished likewise with a great number of populous Villages for besides twenty seven Mercat Towns it is able to shew Villages and Countrey Towns six hundred twenty and five watered with divers Rivers and Brooks and not altogether destitute of Wood A man may collect the goodnesse of the ground by this that the Inhabitants are of a passing good complexion to say nothing of their exceeding wily wits and the same right quick in the insight of our Common Laws insomuch as it is counted the only Countrey for best Lawyers One saith that three hundred and forty nisi prius were tried there at one Assizes It is a pleasant Countrey for sports Hawking and Hunting Thetford the Ford of Thet of good bignesse yet it hath but few Inhabitants Harleston a good Mercat Norwich a famous City by reason of the wealth number of Inhabitants the resort of people fair buildings and many fair Churches it containeth thirty two Parishes and fourty two Chappels and Churches the painfull industry of the Citizens and their courtesie unto strangers The Market Crosse and Cloister of the Cathedral there are the fairest in England It is pleasantly situate on the side of an Hill compassed about with strong Wals in which are orderly placed many Turrets and twelve Gates unlesse it be on the East-side where the River is a fence thereto It is three miles about The Arms of the City are the Castle and Lion A City whose Antiquity Alexander Nevil hath most learnedly and elegantly set down in Latine It hath been long famous for the ancient cloathes or stuff called Worsted but hath lately abounded in variety of weaving through the invention and industry of the Dutch and French Flemmings which inhabit there in great numbers There is a great House there of the Duke of Norfolks now the Earl of Arundels where there are very fair Granaries and the best Bowling-alley in England There is also an Hospital where an hundred of men and women are maintained Matthew Parker was born here Yarmouth a very convenient Haven and as fair a Town beautifully built and well fenced both by the natural strength of the place and also by the skilfull industry of mans art It hath but one Church yet the same is very large having a high Steeple to adorn it It is famous for fishing and merchandizing There are two long Streets in it each of them a mile long one called the Dean-street the other the Key There is also another Street called the Middle-street and many rows as they call them after the manner of Holland There is also a fair Market place Holt a Town so called of an Holt or tuft of trees and for the Mercat well known Ailesham a Mercat Town of good resort Worsted where the stuff worsted in so great request amongst our Ancestors was first made and hence so named as Dornicks Camery Calecut had in like manner their denominations from the places where they were first invented and made Walsingham This Village is very famous by reason of the best Saffron growing there The Family of the Walsinghams Knights fetched first their name and original from hence out of which house flourished that Sir Francis Walsingham Secretary to Queen Elizabeth a man as of deep insight so also of as rare and painfull industry in the weightiest affairs of the Realm Lynne peradventure so named of the waters broad spreading So Lynne imports in the Welch tongue This is a large Town encompassed with a deep Trench and Wals for the most part thereof divided by two small Rivers that have fifteen Bridges or thereabout over them It is called old Linne and Linnum Regis that is Kings Linne yet by reason of the safe Haven which yeeldeth most easie accesse for the number also of the Merchants there dwelling and thither resorting for the fair and the goodly houses the wealth also of the Townsmen it is doubtlesse the principal Town of this Shire except Norwich onely Mershland a little moist Mersh-Countrey as the name implieth a soil standing upon very rich and fertile mould and breeding abundance of Cattel insomuch as that in a place commonly called Tilneysmeth there feed much about thirty thousaud Sheep In this Province there be Parish Churches about six hundred and sixty In Norfolk and Suffolk there are more Parishes than in any other Counties six hundred and odde in Norfolk and above five hundred in Suffolk Northamptonshire THis County is situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England On the East lie Bedford and Huntingdonshires On the South Buckingham and Oxfordshires Westward Warwickshire Northward Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire separated from it by Avon the lesse and Welland two Rivers It is a champion Countrey exceeding populous and passing well furnished with Noblemens and Gentlemens Houses replenished also with Towns and Churches insomuch as in some places there are twenty and in others thirty Seeples with Spires or square Towers within view at once The soil very fertile both for Tillage and Pasture yet nothing so well stored with Woods unlesse it be in the further and hither sides But in every place as elswhere also in England it is over-spread and as it were beset with Sheep Brakley a place full of Brake or Fern the Students of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford use the Colledge there for a retiring place Torcester so called of Towrs It hath a large Church in it Hard by at Eston-Nessont there is a fair and beautifull House belonging to the Knightly Family of the Farmers Sacy-Forest stored with Deer and fit for game Avon a general name of all Rivers This Aufona or Nen is a notable River which after a sort runneth through the middle part of this Shire Dantrey is a through-fare Town well known at this day by reason of the Innes there Fawesly where have dwelt a long time the Knightleys descended from those more ancient Knightleys of Gnowshall in the County of Stafford Wedon in the street It is a pretty through-fare set on a plain ground and much celebrated by Carriers because it standeth hard by the famous way there commonly call'd of the people * Watlingstreet Lelands Itinerary Holdenby-House a fair patern of stately and magnificent building Northampton so called from its situation upon the North-bank of the River Aufon The City for Houses is very fair for circuit of good largenesse and walled about and from the Wall there is a goodly Prospect every way to a wide and spacious plain Countrey There are seven Parish Churches
the River Dert The mouth is the place where any River finds a passage out either into the Sea or into another greater River which in Latine is termed ostium or a gate Septem ostia Nili Seven mouths by which it fals into the mediterranean This gave the name to many Cities and Towns in England as Dartmouth Plimmouth Portsmouth Yarmouth Weymouth Axmouth with many others Carpenters Geog. l. 2. ch. 9. In Latine Exonia Ptolomee calleth it Isca Bartholomaeus qui quod in lucem editus esset Exoniae quae civitas antiquitus Isca dicitur appellata Iscanus est cognominatus in Exoniensem Episcopum consecratus fuit in utraque Philosophia tam humana scilicet quam divina vir non mediocriter eruditus Godw. de Praesul Ang. Comment Berstable upon the Taw navigable here for great vessels See Carpenters Geog. l. 2. c. 15. the famous men of Devonshire Durnovaria the River passage or Ferry Camden Fons limpidus or clarus Pure fountain or clear Well Bishoprick of Durham Durham Dunelmensis civitatis Ecclesiae indita est appellatio à Dun quod montem Holm quod lingua Saxonica insulam amnicam significat quia Coquedus fluvius per Maeandrum in se quasi reductus montem ab omni ferè parte circumluit quasi insulam molitus in quo Dunelmum Anglice Durham situm est Godwin de Praesul Ang. Comment It is famous for the Ministry Dike of Epping and Rogers of Dedham whose picture is therein the Church An ancient Colony of the Romans called Camalodunum The chiefest Town of the Shire Many have thought it was so called from a Colony in the Râ—man time placed there rather from Coln the River whereon it stands as Lincolne from the River Lune Burtons Commentary on Antoninus his Itinerary through Britain It is famous for Oisters and candied Eringoroots and Cloth * Crocum ad cor exhilarandum sedandos dolores utile cujus fortasse non est ubique terrarum quà m in agris Essexio Suffulcio Cantabrigienfi tam uber proventus Twini de Rebus Britan. Comment. lib. 2. pag. 138. It had this name of Dean a little Town adjoyning A Bishops See Either that the Normans might have more secure arrival into England or for the pleasure he took in hunting Antona australis Northampton Antona Borealis so called for the South situation of it * Its situation is fruitfull and pleasant in a Valley under Hils Wina Wintoniensis primus extitit Antistes neque tamen civitati nomen dedit quod stolide satis nonnulli augurantur Ab antiquis Britannis Caerguentia olim apellata quasi Civiras Guenta à Saxonibus quod idem sonat Wentchester Wentancester Wintoncester nuncupata est unde nostra Wintonia Godw. De Praesul Arg. Comment Vrbs vini vel vinifera quasi dicas munitio vel fortificatio ubi crevit optimum vinum in Britannia appellata est Celebris fuit haec civitas olim Arthurii procerum mensa rotunda occidentalium Saxonum regia sepulchris Episcopali sede lanarum custodia mercatu Henrici tertii favore frequenti praesentia instructissimo Wickami Episcopi Collegio Twini De Rebus Britannic Comment. lib. 2. pag. 116 117. Vectis Insula forma Ovo simillima à littore alibi septem alibi duobus passuum millibus distans Neoportus unicum insulae Emporium Est Castrwn Caerbro id est Cassium tractus antiquitatem Britannicam referens Lhyd. Comment Britann descript. Fragmentum Nobilissima Lisleiorum familia D'or au chef d' azur trois lyons rampans del premier Ex hac gente nonnulli olim ad Comitia Parliamentaria cum reliquis Regni Barâ—nibus evocati fuerunt Bissaei Notae in Uptonum p. 48. This and Monmouthshire have been now long reckoned among the Counties of England * There are sundry sweet and fresh Rivers the chiefest whereof are the Wye Lug and Manow A Bishops See Godwin de Praesulibus Ang. saith it is reported that Bradwardine was here born Vide R. Usseri de Britannic Eccles. primord cap. 7. L. Herberts Henry the 8th See Monasticon Anglicanum Howe 's Chron. Lamb Perambulat of Kent See Kilbourns Surveigh of Kent p. 2. Cantium quod amaenissima humanissima Britanniae habita semper fuit provincia ad austrum Solemque Orientem Oceano Germanico ad aquilonem uberrimo Thamesi fluvio ad Occidentem Surra ac Sussexia provinciis quas Angli comitatus appellant cingitur Haec agrorum feracitate faecunda populoque generoso ac potenti referta plures urbes villasqae in locis ob aquas sylvas vicinas humanae habitationi commodioribus condidit ob maritimos portus quas multos habet peregrinorum consuetudine Galliaeque vicinitate magis {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} quam reliquae hujus Insulae regiones à Scriptoribus perhibetur Quibus item rationibus moribus cultier opibus ditior jure existimatur Antiquitates Britannieae pag. 33. Britannos Caesar maximè Cantios longè omnium humanissimos vocat eam humanitatem illis fraudi fuisse belli Caesariani causam extitisse apparet quod praesidia Gallis Caesaris hostibus submiserint eos adventantes subinde amico ac peropportunos profugio exceperint Humfredus De Nobil. lib. 2. Not that Kent was conceived distinct from Christendome Kilburns Survey of Kent p. 5. It is agreed by all men that there were never any bondmen or villains as the Law calleth them in Kent Lamberts Perambulat of Kent The tenures of Land here are as free tenures as any in England The father to the Bough and the son to the Plough Oppidum Winchilseum olim vento frigori ponto obnoxium unde ei nomen obvenit Twini Comment. De Rebus Brittanuicis lib. 1. pag. 25. A Bishops See * Durovernum olim nunc Cantuaria Cantuaria urbs est Archiepiscopalis Metropolitica quae ut antiquitate it a peramaena situs jucunditate multis Angliae urbibus sed dignitate praefertur Nam Cantuariensis Archipraesul totius Angliae primatum obtinet Georgius Bruin in Tabulis urbium Praecipuarum totius mundi A Bishops See See Mr Somner of Canterbury * Mr John Ludd Haywards Life of William the 2d Dubris One of the Cinque Ports A Dovero ad Caletum maritimum ex altera parte in Gallia oppidum secundis ventis spirantibus quatuor horis brevissimus fit trajectus Antiqu. Britann One of the Cinque Ports It containeth 24000 Acres Lamb Perambul of Kent Quis quaeso hodiè credat magnam partem illius prati sivè Planiciei nobis nunc Rumnensis marshii id est Romani maris nomine dictae fuisse quondam altum Pelagus mare Velivolum Vbi tot ovium greges oberrant tot pecorum armenta pascuntur tot juga bovum arant tanti foeni copia qvotannis conficitur tot templa in divinum cultum construuntur tot familiae foventur denique unde tot
pingues pecudes in macellis veniunt ut non modo universum Cantium hujus locis commoda sentiat verum etiam civitas Londinum non nihil emolumenti inde percipiat Twini Comment. De Rebus Britan. l. 1. p. 31. Priests-Town Or Loncaster from the River Lone Carlton-Curlew They cannot prenounce the letter R. Camd. Brit. And Burtons descript. of Leicestershire Bishop Latimer was also born at Thurcaston in Leicestershire It was so called of the Zouches sometimes Lords thereof Burtons descript. of Leicestershire The largest next Yorkshire It is well stored with all kind of provision it abounds with fish and fowl The roof of the Church is richly guilt Mr John Fox the Authour of the Acts and Monuments was born here There are so many steps in the steeple from the bottom to the top as there are dayes in the years At the George there is one of the fairest Inns of England Lincolnia The greatest Bell of England He was great with Henry the 6th he built a Free-School at Wainflet his name was Patten of the worshipfull family of which he was descended * More than in Yorkshire The chiefest at this day of all the Kings houses A City rather in shew then the Palace of a Prince and for stately port and gorgeous building not inferiour to any in Europe Weavers Monum. * It is most sweetly situate upon the Thames served with all kind of necessaries most commodiously The air health full it is populous rich and beautifull Nordens Speculum Britanniae It is convenient for situation hath a noble Bridge navigable River 2. Strictly governed 3. Opulent hath abundance of all kinds of provision 4. Ancient and enjoyeth many Immunities Of St Pauls Cathedral See Mr Dugdales History and of the Bishops of Pauls Londinum copia negotiatorum commeatu valde celebre Tacitus The Inner-Temple is the mother and most ancient of all the other houses of Court Burtons descript. of Leicestershire Dr Reynolds Sions praises This work viz. the Arches Chappel and stone-bridge over the Thames was thirty three yeers in building Stow. Speeds Chron. Stows and Speeds Chron. in Edw. the 3d. Thomas Greshamus Cives Londinensis Mercator Regius ex ordine Equestri qui patriae ornamento Mercatorum usui Perystillium pulcherrimum Excambiam Regium Elizabetha nominavit Londini extruxit aedes quas in urbe habuit amplissimas bonarum literarum professioni dicavit constitutis in iisdem Sacrae Theologiae Juris Civilis Medicinae Astronomiae Geometriae Rhetoricae praelectionibus cum honestis salariis Camd. Annal. rerum Anglic. pars â—â— p. 286. Vide etiam pag. 189. The new Ex change Monasterium Westmonasteriense Regum angliae inauguratione sepultura Insignium Regalium custodia celeberrimam Camd. Annal. rerum Anglic. par 1o p. 60. Vide plura ibid. Monasticon Anglicanum p 55 c. L. Herb. Henry the 8th Neer hereunto are the two Houses of Parliament Ex infima plebe non pauci reperiuntur quin si nihil litium sit lites tamen ex ipsis Juris apicibus serere calleant Camdenus There are three Churches Vrbs nunc ampla est nobilis florens celebris civitatum omnium secundum Londinum universi Regni Emporium multo maxima augustissimaque Nevilli Norvicus No one Shire of England hath three such Towns as Norwich Linn and Yarmouth Speed There is the earliest Park of England The King was wont to have venison thence before he had it out of his own Parks * Of that and the other famous wayes in England see Burtons Commen on Antoninus his Itinerary through Britain * He was brought up in New-Colledge in Oxford where he proceeded Doctor of Law Petriburgus or Petropolis Ab arborum proceritate in frequentia veprium Lympida Sylva noto satis nomine dicitur Twini Comment. The Nobility and Gentry of the North are of great antiquity and can produce more ancient Families then any other part of England many of them Gentry before the Conquest the rest came in with William the Conquerour * Axelodunum * So called because Robert de Curtois Son of William the Conquerour built there a new Castle out of the ground against the neighbouring Scots Alnevicum In Dunston a little village within the Parish of Emildon Berwicus An hundred miles long Wedgenock Park in Warwickshire is one of the most ancient Parks in England Nunc autem conficiendo Caseo notissimum So Camden Dr Holland englisheth that thus Now the fame of this Town is for Zeal Cheese and Cakes Though that is but an unhandsome conjunction and there is no ground for it in Camden yet in Mr Wheatlyes time to my knowledge it was famous for zeal and I hope is so now Oxonia or Oxonium Quodcunque habuit ab initio nomen pulcherrimum saluberrimum habet situm regionemque omnia necessaria affatim ministrantem bonarumque litterarum celeberrimam scholam ut omnes qui alias Europae Academias adierunt facilè agnoscunt Lhyd. Com. Brit. Descrip Fragment Rutlan-Castle in Wales is so named being built on a shore of red earth Commitatus Salopiensis Salop in Latine Salopia It hath a fair Library and School-house and Brew-house So called from Oswald King of the Northumbers Asserius an ancient Writer calleth this Countrey alwayes Somertunensis that is Somertunshire * Used about Cloath Glastonia Monasterium viderint parentes nostri amplitudine ac magnitudine perpaucis in universa Europa quantum autumo postponendum Godwinus De Conversione Britanniae ad Christianam Religionem Vide plura ibid. Et Monasticon Anglicanum p. 1 2 c. Of Ogo a British word which betokeneth Den Fontanensis Ecclesia Fountain Church Bathonia Vrbs non mode antiqua verum etiam celebris Romanorum Monumentis multis liquidò in muris comparet qua itur à porta meridionali ad borealem Lelandi Comment in Cygneam Cantionem Vide Johnsonum De urbe Thermis Bathonicis A Bishops See and famous Port. In Henry the 7th his time Stephen Gennings Maior of London founded a free Grammar-School there where he was born There is a Corporation So called from Tame the River running beside it Cadaverum Campus The field of dead bodies a number of Christians was there martyred under the Emperour Dieclesian A small Countrey bare and cold it keepeth snow lying upon it a good while A Market Town Dr Lightfoot was born there Southfolk or people in respect of Norfolk Here Bishop Steven Gardiner was born Godw. de Praesul Ang. Comment Stoke Clare the Dukes of Clarence * A large sweet well watered Town a Town in Orchards Here was born Cardinal Wolsey of whom see a pithy description in Herberts Henry the 8th pag. 314 315. See more in Camdens Britania there The Kings Town Regio-dunum Tamesinam sic dictum quod ad Tamesini fluvii ripam situm sit Lel. Kings Kingston upon the Thames so called to distinguish it from Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire Quanta illic Romanae antiquitaris aemulatio Quantum speciosae picturae Quantum auri Quantum denique omnia genera ornamentorum Diceres Coelum esse stellis interpolatum Lel. Comment in Cygn. Cant. Battersega Nomen loco inditum ut ego conjicio ex cymbis Leland Comment. in Cygn. Cant. A low or clayish rode or hide The Southwork or building because it standeth South ove against London the Suburbs whèreof it may seem in some sort to be In Latine Cicestria Called Seals It is the Shire Town Ripa Baron Buckhurst Sanders Glover and manyother Martyrs suffered in Warwickshire It stands South of Lichfield Coventria quasi Coventus trium a Covent of three sorts of Monks Or rather of an Elephant being not so little as a yard in length Speed See Mr Dugdales Antiq. of Warwickshire illustrated Westmaria Westmorlandia There were Lords also of Kendale From the River Lone Aballaba The Sessions and Assizes are there kept Wiltonia of Wilton sometime the chief Town and of the River Willy Crecolada non insignis olim ut vulgus indoctum somniat Grecanicis scholis Lel. Comment in Cygn. Cant. Vide Burtoni Graec. Ling. hist. p. 52. Et Godwin de Praesul Ang. Comment de Theodoro Archiepisc Cant. p. 61. Cyppanus in the Saxon tongue is to buy and Cyppen a buyer as with us Cheapen and Chapman Sarisburia Roger of Salisbury built this stately Church also The Cathedral was longer in building than the Jews Temple for it was above fifty years in building and do you not think the Founders did intend by proportioning the Doors to the Moneths and the Windows to the Dayes and the Pillars to the Hours of the Year that you should learn this instruction Not a Moneth nay not a Day nay not an Hour should be let passe without something of Religion Mr Annesley on 1 Chron. 12. 32. It had also Bishop Abbot and Davenant Our old Historians termed it for the greatnesse Chorea Gigantum the Gyants dance Our Country-men reckon this for one of our miracles Leporarium Of Marga marle which we use in stead of dung to manure our grounds It lieth near a chaulkie-hill which our Ancestours before they borrowed this name Chaulk of the Latine word Calx named Marle Wigorniensis Comitatus Vnum est satis mirabile quia aqua illa per medium annum est salsa scilicet à nativitate Domini usque ad festum sancti Johannis Baptistae per aliud verò medium temporis est dulcis Sed quod mirabilius est pro illo tempore quo est sali necessaria si non hauritur superfluit per aliud verò temporis vix semper excrescit Gervas in lib. de Ociis imperialibus citatâ—…r Pet. Bechor Reduct Moral l. 13. c. 3. De Anglia Vigornia and Wignornia Some say it is as big as the twelve Counties in Wales The Scots call it Don-Castle from the River Don. Holy-hair The Englishmen dwelling beyond Trent called the hair of the Head Fax There is also a Family in this Countrey of Gentlemen named Fairfax of the fair bush of their Hair Pontefract A French name brought in by the Lacies Normans for the English word of broken bridge Lelands Itinerary * Eboracum Eburacum is derived from the River Vré by Vre or a long the side of Vre See Burtons Comment on Anton. his Itin. p. 60 61. why it is called Eboracum The Kings-Town built by King Edward the First There are also high and low Burton houses Or the North-part of this Countrey
brought to do homage and like Watermen working at the Oar rowed him along the River Dee in a triumphant shew to his great glory and joy of the beholders King Henry the Seventh made it a County by it self incorporate Bunbury contractly so called or Boniface-Bury Boniface was the Patron Saint there Beeston-Castle hath a wall of a great circuit Here are very famous Salt-pits or Salt-wiches five or six miles distant asunder where brine or salt water is drawn out of pits which they boile over the fire to make salt thereof These were known unto the Romanes and from hence was usually paid the Custome for salt called Salarium Nantwich Middle-wich Nortwich Nantwich which the River Wever first visiteth is reputed the greatest and fairest built Town of all this Shire after Chester It is called the White-wich or Salt-pit because the whitest salt is there boiled North-wich is called the Black-salt pit Congleton a Mercat Town famous for Gloves Purses and Points of Leather Kinderton the old seat of the ancient race of the Venables who ever since the first coming in of the Normans have been of name and reputation here and commonly are called Barons of Kinderton Brereton hath given Name to the worshipfull ancient and numerous Family of the Breretons Knights Before any Heir of this House of the Breretons dieth there are seen in a Pool adjoyning bodies of trees swimming for certaine dayes together so Camden but some deny this Middle-wich there are two Wels of salt water parted one from the other by a small brook Maclesfield one of the fairest Towns of this County Lee from whence there is a Family bearing the same surname that is not only of gentle bloud and of especial note but also farre and fairly propagated into a number of branches Camd Britan. High Leigh in Cheshire I think gave Names to all the renowned Races of that Name in this County Two distinct Descents of the same Name have their seats in the same place and there have continued in a long succession of their Ancestors Knights and Esquires of much worth one is Thomas Leigh the other is Peter Leigh Esquires King of Cheshire Lime in Cheshire a great Family of the Name of the Leighs of whom there have been many famous Knights Sir Peter now the Possessor thereof King of Cheshire Nor thou magnanimous Leigh must not be left In darkness for thy rare fidelity To save thy faith content to lose thy head That reverent head of good men honored Daniels Second Book of Civil Warres Cholmundeston or Cholmeston anciently the Lands of the Leighs of Rushall in Staffordshire King of Cheshire pag. 74. It containeth thirteen Market Towns and sixty eight Parishes Cornwall IT extends in length to about seventy miles the breadth in the largest place passeth not thirty Carews Surveigh of Cornwall Speed computes the length sixty miles and the breadth forty It is called by later Writers Cornubia in Latine of all Britain it doth bear most Westward because it waxeth smaller and smaller in manner of an Horn and runneth forth into the Sea with little promontories as if they were Horns on every side Others would have it so called of one Corin and do call it Corinea Camd. Brit. There is digged here wonderfull store of Tin yeelding exceeding much profit and commodity whereof are made houshold Pewter vessels which are used thorowout many parts of Europe in service of the Table and for their glittering brightnesse compared with silver-plate Terra admodum sterilis fructum magis ex cultorum industria quam ex sua bonitate praebet sed fert uberius plumbum nigrum album hoc est stannum in quo effodiendo maximè consistit vita incolarum Polyd. Verg. Angl. Hist. l. 1. The Kings of England and Dukes of Cornwall in their times have reserved to themselves a praeemption of Tinne by the opinion of the learned in the Law as well in regard of the Propriety as being chief Lords and Proprietaries as of their Royal Prerogative Not only Tin is here found but therewith also Gold and Silver yea and Dyamonds shaped and pointed angle-wise smoothed also by Nature it self whereof some are as big as Wall-nuts and inferiour to the orient Dyamonds in blacknesse and hardnesse only So plentifull is this Countrey of grain although not without great toil of the Husbandman that it hath not only sufficient to maintain it self but also affordeth often times great store of Corn into Spain Besides a most rich Revenue and Commodity they have by those little Fishes that they call Pilchards which swarming as one would say in mighty great skuls about the shores from July unto November are there taken garbaged falted hanged in the smoke laid up pressed and by infinite numbers carried over into France Spain and Italy unto which Countreys they be very good chaffer and right welcome merchandize and are there named Fumados Michael a Cornish Poet and of Rhymers in his time the chies hath these Verses of Cornwall Non opus est ut opes numerem quibus est opulenta Et per quas inopes sustentat non opulenta Piscibus stanno nusquam tam fertilis ora The people thre are civil valiant hardy well pitcht in stature brawny and strong limbed such as for wrestling to speak nothing of that manly exercise and feat of hurling the Ball which they use so farre excell that for slight and clean strength together they justly winne the prize and praise from other Nations in that behalf Godolphin-Hill right famous for plentifull veins of Tin but much more renowned in regard of the Lords thereof bearing the same name who with their vertues have equalled the ancientnesse of that House and Linage That name in the Cornish Language came of a white Eagle and this Family hath anciently born for their Arms in a Shield Gules an Aegle displayed Argent between three Flower-deluces of the same Shield Falemouth-Haven is as noble as Brundusium it self in Italy of exceeding great capacity for it is able to receive an hundred Ships which may ride therein so apart by themselves that out of never an one of them the top of anothers Mast can be seen and most safe withall under the wind by reason that it is enclosed on every side with brims of high rising banks The Gullet on either hand as well for the defence and safety of the place as for terrour to enemies is fortified with Block-houses to wit the Castle of Maudit Eastward and toward the West the Fort Pendinaes both built by King Henry the Eighth Foy a Town most renowned in former ages for Sea fights which the very Arms of the Town do witnesse as being compounded of the Cinque-ports Arms Padstow a pretty Market Town so called short for Petrockstow of one Petroch a Britan canonized a Saint by the people who spent his dayes here in the service of God Edward the Third erected Cornwall into a Dukedome and invested Edward his Sonne